Serendipity
by cuteamu
Summary: Shiro saves Ichigo once and unfolds a chain of events that neither of them anticipated. AU. IchiXShiro.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys a new Shirosaki X Ichigo story XD I hope you guys like it.**

 **I don't own Bleach :D if I did, I would be the luckiest girl alive :D**

 **So this is the first chapter guys. I hope you like it. As always constructive criticisms is highly appreciated and forgive my grammatical mistakes.**

 _Thoughts in Italic_ **.**

 **Before starting with the chapter I would like to share a few points. Firstly Shiro is seme and Ichigo is uke the way we all like it *winks* secondly Ichigo's house is located at the far end of the town and has a huge backyard. Also Ichigo is a violin prodigy.**

 **Alright moving on. Read, review & enjoy.**

 **Chapter 1**

 _It's pretty lonely without Karin, Yuzu and goat-face around,_ thought Ichigo as he sat on the sofa flipping through T.V. channels. Ichigo was a 17 year old boy with bright orange, unruly hair and beautiful amber eyes. His figure was lithe and slender, with beautiful unmarred sun-kissed skin. _Well nothing can be done, they are away for 6 month. In fact I should be happy, I have the whole house to myself for 6 whole months_ , Ichigo thought but couldn't cheer himself up.

 _Maybe I should practice my violin,_ Ichigo fingered his violin which was beside him on the sofa. _Or maybe not,_ he thought sullenly.

Ichigo was a violin prodigy. Ever since he was little he had a talent for music so his father got him a tutor to teach him music. Ichigo learned to play the violin quickly. And even though violin is a hard instrument to play Ichigo mastered it just as easily as breathing. Everyone in his school admired how well Ichigo could play violin even at such young age. His whole life was set for him, after high school he would go to a music school and then become a professional violinist.

 _But something changed. I can't find my inspiration anymore. I don't like playing violin now,_ Ichigo thought. Although he was sad but he couldn't find will to play his violin anymore _. Maybe because my life is way too monotonous. It's like all the colors have been stripped away from my life and all that is left is black and white._

Ichigo shook the depressing thoughts away as he turned off the T.V. and went to kitchen to make some dinner. He looked towards the clock to see 8.00 o'clock written in bold red letters. _It's already 8. I should hurry or else I won't have time for homework_ , Ichigo thought as he started preparing his dinner.

x—x—x

After dinner and homework Ichigo went to his bed. Already fast asleep, Ichigo could not sense any movements around his house at all. A loud noise woke him up from his sleep. Ichigo woke up startled and quickly grabbed his baseball bat as he ran towards the source of the noise. He ended up in his backyard and saw a figure dressed in black standing over what appeared to be a giant centipede. The figure looked at him and Ichigo's breath caught in his throat.

There standing in front of him was the most amazing guy Ichigo had ever seen. His skin was pale white and his hair were silver, which illuminated in moon light. He wore a black pant and a black button up shirt, the sleeves of which were rolled up to his elbow. Few buttons near his collar were undone showing off his well-toned chest. He had a black, very thin sword held up right above the neck of the monster. His lips were contoured in an angry snarl.

But what made Ichigo stop in his tracks were the stranger's eyes. It would be an understatement to say his eyes were mesmerizing. His iris were golden more like molten gold itself, surrounded by raven black sclera. His eyes radiated anger and hate yet all Ichigo could see was strong passion behind it. One glance from those sinful eyes made Ichigo's knees quiver.

Ichigo's heart skipped a few beats as the stranger leaped towards him. "What are you doing! Get the hell away from here you fool!" his harsh words broke Ichigo's trance and Ichigo noticed that the stranger had a chilly echo to his voice. Ichigo clutched his bat tightly.

Ichigo saw the giant centipede crawl towards the stranger who was close to him. _What the hell's_ _going on over here?_ Ichigo thought. _Is this even real or am I dreaming? Was that a monster? And was that boy trying to kill the monster with his sword?_ Many questions ran through Ichigo mind. _But whatever it is the boy cannot kill it alone. I have to help him._

"Hey you! What the hell is going on?" Ichigo asked stepping towards the boy.

The said boy snarled at him, "Don't you understand! Get away from here before you get yourself killed!"

The centipede took the advantage of our distraction and quickly crawled towards the stranger. The boy quickly leapt high in air and sliced one of the centipede's legs. _Well he is good at this I guess,_ Ichigo thought. _Perhaps he really doesn't need my help, maybe I am getting in the way._

Ichigo watched for few seconds to see if the boy would be alright and then he went inside his house and closed the door behind him. _Is all this really happening? Is all this real?_ He thought to himself, but try as he may he couldn't believe any of this. Up until now Ichigo didn't believe in monsters whatsoever. He always thought they were fiction, never in his life he would have imagined monsters to be real.

Ichigo was lost deep in thought and he failed to notice blood red eyes looking at him from the window. The eyes held nothing but bloodlust in them as the thing slowly crawled inside the room Ichigo was in, through the window.

Ichigo noticed too late as a tentacle grabbed his foot and pulled him towards itself. Ichigo was startled and scared as he let out a loud scream, "Ahhhhhhh!"

The next events must have happened in few seconds but Ichigo could see each and every detail clearly like everything was in slow motion. The pale stranger from earlier was in the room and he cut the tentacle which was curled around Ichigo's leg. He gently pushed Ichigo behind him and stabbed the monster with his sword. But another tentacle shot passed the stranger towards Ichigo; Ichigo quickly took few steps back and fell on the ground. The stranger sliced the tentacle again. But it was just a decoy as another tentacle raced towards Ichigo. With his sword still etched in other tentacle, the stranger leapt in front of Ichigo.

Ichigo saw horrified the stranger tried to block the tentacle using himself as a shield, but the tentacle pierced through his right shoulder and made a hole in it. The tentacle continued racing towards Ichigo through the stranger's pierced shoulder and Ichigo brought his right hand up to cover his face out of instinct and closed his eyes ready to take the impact.

The tentacle shot through Ichigo's arm and stopped right before his eye. Ichigo stared wide-eyed, scared even to blink. The hole in his hand made by the tentacle was forgotten due to threat of fast approaching death.

"Don't you dare harm him," the stranger said in his chilling voice. Ichigo slowly gulped and pulled himself back. He blinked slowly the pain in his hand now very noticeable. He made a pained sound as the tentacle was pulled from his hand as well as from the stranger's shoulder.

After that the stranger killed the monster with a single swing of his sword and fainted. Ichigo sat there for few moments still in shock of what had happened in just a few seconds. The pain in his hand broke his trance and he winced as he got up with quivering legs. He took a shaky step towards the boy who was on the floor and thought, _He must be in lot more pain then I am._

Ichigo switched to his 'doctor mode' and tried to lift the boy but his own injury and the weight of the boy prevented him from doing so and instead he dragged the boy towards his bathroom. He removed the boy's shirt and started washing the wound with cold water. In his pain-hazed state, Ichigo wrapped the stranger's shoulder with bandages and then nursed his own wound. He dragged the boy towards his room and somehow managed to lay him on his bed. He pulled the covers on the stranger's form and walked towards the body of the monster lying on the floor in other room.

Ichigo removed the sword from the monster's body and tossed it aside. He tied a rope around the monster and dragged him from his room; too afraid to touch it. He reached in his backyard and saw the giant centipede lying in the middle of its own blood.

 _Gods what am I supposed to do with these bodies,_ Ichigo thought miserably. Just as he was about to drag the body towards the forest, both the bodies started to disintegrate slowly. The bodies become dust slowly until there was nothing left of them but ashes. The dust blew away with the wind leaving no evidence of anything that happened during the night.

 _But it wasn't a dream. Because the stranger sleeping in my room is very real_ , Ichigo thought walking back towards his house.

x—x—x

The next morning Ichigo woke up due to severe headache and pain in his hand. He opened his eyes and blinked few times to realize that he wasn't in his bedroom. _What am I doing on the sofa?_ He thought for a moment. _Did I watch a movie and fell asleep on the sofa?_ He thought until he remembered the events of last night. _Oh yes that's right monsters in the backyard and the mysterious boy in my bed._

 _But is that really the truth? How can you be sure that your mind is not playing tricks on you Ichigo? Or maybe it was a movie and I ended up having a nightmare._ Ichigo continued to think of any possible explanation to rationalize the situation. Because no matter what happened Ichigo refused to believe in monsters or supernatural beings.

Ichigo got up from the sofa and walked towards his bedroom. He had to make sure the boy was really sleeping and it was not him going insane. He walked in the bedroom to see the boy sleeping in same position as Ichigo had left him last night. Ichigo continued to look at him with events of last night displaying before his eyes. _He really did save my life_ , Ichigo thought.

Ichigo tore open the bandages on his hand and saw the gaping hole in his palm. He winced and the pain made him even more aware of how real the events that occurred were. _Everything is real. The boy is real, the pain in my hand is real so that means the monsters are real too._

Ichigo re-wrapped his bandages carefully and was about to leave the room when his eyes landed on, a thin black sword that he carelessly tossed aside yesterday night. He picked it up and looked at it carefully. It was well kept; _it must be important to him_ , Ichigo thought and carefully carried the sword with him to the bathroom and cleaned it thoroughly. He placed the sword on the table beside his bed and walked out of the room.

He entered the kitchen to make some breakfast. _It's already past my school lunch time. No use going now, might as well take a day off and rest,_ Ichigo thought as he brewed some coffee.

Ichigo ate his breakfast quietly all the while thinking about the pale albino in his bed. _I wonder when he would awaken. But that's not possible, after a wound like that he would most probably knocked out for days,_ Ichigo thought. _Maybe I should change his bandages._

Ichigo entered his bedroom again, with a fresh set of bandages, towels and medicines in his hand. _It is a good thing that goat-face is a doctor or else all these things won't be so readily available,_ Ichigo thought as he walked towards the bed and started removing the stale bandages.

 _Maybe I should have taken him to hospital instead,_ Ichigo thought. _But that wouldn't help the situation at all. How can I explain the wound in his shoulder? Undoubtedly the cops would be involved and things would get only worse._

 _But I am not a doctor,_ Ichigo thought sadly. _Alright if his wounds become infected or he doesn't show any signs of getting better I will take him to hospital, the explanations be damned. His life is more important._

With that decision made Ichigo quickly redressed the wound and left the stranger alone and went in kitchen to prepare lunch. The rest of the day Ichigo spend flipping through the T.V. channels and taking naps several times due to fatigue, all the while his thoughts concentrated on the golden eyed stranger.

x—x—x

 **So did you guys like this chapter? Any suggestion on pairing regarding Grimmjow and Ulquiorra?**

 **Please review and thank you for reading :D**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Bleach :D if I did, I would be the luckiest girl alive :D**

 **So this is the second chapter guys. I hope you like it. As always constructive criticisms is highly appreciated and forgive my grammatical mistakes.**

 **Before moving on ahead I want to share a few points. Firstly Shiro and Ichigo are not related by any condition. I know it is a bit late as most of you must have already figured that out but I thought whatever I should clarify it anyways. Secondly Shiro is not a soul reaper. I know the first chapter might have led some readers to think it that way but it's not. What Shiro is shall be revealed soon enough *winks***

 _Thoughts in Italic_ **.**

 **Alright moving on. Read, review & enjoy.**

 **Chapter 2**

It had been three days since the incident happened with Ichigo. He was still baffled about the events that took place. Monsters were always fairy tales for him, _but it's not my imagination_ , Ichigo reminded himself.

Ichigo had skipped school after that incident, one reason was the pain in his hand; it hurt like hell. But the other reason was he wanted to keep an eye on the boy who was currently occupying his room. Ichigo was very curious and plainly intrigued by that boy. He wanted to know everything that was going on and only one who could answer his questions was the boy on his bed. So Ichigo took care and changed his bandages twice a day.

He also noticed that the boy's healing rate was much faster than that of a human's. _A normal human would have died with a wound like that,_ thought Ichigo. _Just confirms that he is not a human and monsters are very real._

After a worried call from Orihime and a threatening call from Uryu, Ichigo finally decided to go to school. Ichigo walked through the school gates and entered his class room. All the conversations that had been going on ceased almost immediately and all eyes were on Ichigo. He ignored all that and made his way towards his desk. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Orihime, Chad and Uryu make their way towards him.

"How are you feeling now Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked. Ichigo could hear the underlying tones of worry in her voice.

"I am fine now," he answered gruffly but felt guilty to make his friends worry about him.

"So how did you get hurt? You said you were sick," Uryu asked.

Ichigo looked up to meet Uryu's eyes and said, "Fell in the bathroom." He could see no one believed him and they knew that Ichigo was lying clearly but didn't say anything as they also knew that Ichigo would tell them eventually; no use pushing him.

Ichigo smiled lightly, _my friends are great._

The rest of the day passed quickly for Ichigo, who had spent most of the time looking out of the window. He couldn't keep his thoughts away from the boy occupying his bed.

x—x—x

As soon as the school got over Ichigo went to supermarket to buy supplies. After he was done he walked out to see it was already twilight. _How did it get so late_? Ichigo thought looking towards the darkening sky. _I have to hurry up and go home. I need to make dinner and also change his bandages,_ he reminded himself distractedly.

As Ichigo started heading towards his house he had a strange feeling as if someone was watching him. He tried to shake it off as his imagination but he couldn't. So instead of going home like he originally planned, he turned into an alleyway and decided to confront whoever it was. Ichigo thought it would some random thug trying to pick a fight with him but he wasn't prepared to face a short girl, with short raven hair and purple eyes.

The girl was wearing black robes which were traditional and _who wears such clothes these days_ , thought Ichigo. And even though she seemed younger than him there was a seriousness in her eyes which made Ichigo think that maybe she wasn't as young as she looked.

Ichigo let out an angry sigh and said, "So you were following me kid? Go home I don't have time to play."

Ichigo could see vein throbbing on the girl's forehead as she jumped towards him and slapped him on his head. The hit didn't hurt but Ichigo was instantly aware that the girl was not human. _She covered that much distance in a second_ , he thought looking at her pointedly. _Maybe she is like him._

"Who are you calling a kid?" she asked angrily. "In fact if anyone is child amongst us it is you."

Now it was Ichigo's turn to get angry, not only the girl was shorter than him but she also looked younger than him. "You're the child here pipsqueak," he answered angrily and scowled at her.

"Why you arrogant little human?" the girl said. But before Ichigo could retort she took a deep breath and calmed herself. "Listen here I am not here to fight you. I am looking for Shiro," she said.

Ichigo scowled some more and said, "What makes you think that I know this Shiro you are looking for?"

The girl narrowed her eyes and looked at Ichigo, her face showing the expression I-know-you-are-lying. "I know he is with you I can smell it."

Ichigo was about to argue back when his mind focused on her last statement. "You can smell it? What exactly can you smell and who are you?" Ichigo's thoughts were confirmed about the girl not being ordinary. He took a defensive position, ready to fight if he had to; although he wouldn't harm the girl. Human or not Ichigo didn't hurt girls.

The girl took a step back as her words had made the situation only worse. She was not afraid of fighting the boy, but preferred not to harm the human who bore Shirosaki's scent.

"Just what exactly are you?" Ichigo asked again sharply.

"I cannot tell," she said simply.

"Then perhaps we shouldn't waste each other's time. You cannot tell me what you are and I do not know who you are talking about," Ichigo said coldly tired with all the verbal games.

Ichigo started walking away from the girl when she asked in a broken voice, "So you really don't know who I am talking about?" The slight confusion in Ichigo's eyes answered her question. "Just try to remember if you have seen him around. Please I can't sense him or smell him," she insisted.

Ichigo could see small tears gathering in her eyes. And although she didn't let a single tear fall her heartbroken face was enough to make Ichigo fell guilty.

"Listen squirt I really don't know who you are talking about," Ichigo answered with a sigh. He didn't know any guy named Shiro and he couldn't understand what made the girl so sure he knew him. He never once had encountered any boy with that name neither in his school nor in his neighborhood or the punks he usually fought with.

"I looked around the whole town and I couldn't find him. He has pale skin and silver hair," she insisted.

Realization dawned on Ichigo who the girl was talking about.

"What do you want with him?" Ichigo asked sharply. Because no matter what had happened the guy did save his life and no way he was going to hand him over to some girl. The boy now identified as Shiro was in Ichigo's care and Ichigo was nothing if he wasn't protective.

The girl looked at Ichigo's reaction and was intrigued by the possessiveness. "I am his friend. My name is Rukia Kuchiki. I was worried about him so I came here to look for him."

Ichigo finally let his defensive position go and relaxed a bit. "The name is Ichigo Kurosaki. Your friend is back at my place," he answered. _She seemed genuinely worried. She really might be his friend._

So Ichigo decided to take Rukia to his home so she could meet her friend. They started walking towards his house in silence.

x—x—x

Ichigo and Rukia reached the Kurosaki house without any incident. Ichigo showed Rukia the way to his bedroom where Shirosaki was sleeping. Rukia looked worriedly at Shirosaki's sleeping form.

"What happened to him?" Rukia asked but her eyes never left Shiro's sleeping form.

Ichigo told her entire event that occurred the other night not leaving any detail. Rukia listened closely not interrupting even once. After the whole tale was told Rukia sighed and looked at Ichigo with emotions raw in her eyes.

"Thank you Ichigo," she said. "You saved his life."

Ichigo looked at her surprised, "Isn't it the other way round? He saved my life."

"If you didn't tend for his wounds when you did he probably would have died," Rukia said remorsefully.

Ichigo didn't say anything; he knew Rukia was upset. So he left her alone with Shiro and went into the kitchen to make dinner.

After few minutes Rukia entered the kitchen and sat on a chair watching Ichigo cook. They sat in silence each immersed in their own thoughts.

"Say Rukia if you could smell Shiro's scent on me then why didn't you just follow the scent to my house?" Ichigo asked.

Rukia gave a thoughtful expression at that and said, "Something is jamming my senses. I couldn't smell or sense him at all. I spent time looking for him but I couldn't find him. Finally I found you with Shiro's scent on you."

 _Now that I think about it Shiro is here since three days, his scent should be dominating this house but all I can smell are light traces of him,_ Rukia thought.

"Isn't there any other way you to locate your friends? Other than scent I mean," Ichigo asked curiously.

"No there isn't," Rukia answered.

Rukia was broken from her trance when Ichigo placed a plate in front of her. She looked at the food on the plate and gave Ichigo a questioning look.

"Can't have a pipsqueak starving on me now, can we?" Ichigo said lightly to cheer up her pensive mood. She gave a light smile and started eating her dinner quietly.

"I must apologize to you Ichigo," Rukia said.

"Why?" Ichigo asked.

"When I met you first I accused you horribly, I understand now that Shiro fainted right after he slayed the demon and you didn't know his name or anything there is to it, but I wasn't vigilant of this before," she said. "But you must understand that if scent of a person disappears it means the person is dead. When I couldn't smell Shiro I thought he…. Maybe he died," Rukia said sadly.

"I understand," Ichigo said. He actually understood how she must have felt.

"And then I found you with his scent on you. I cannot begin to express the relief I felt when I found you," she said smiling a bit.

Ichigo nodded and continued to eat rest of his dinner. He wasn't good at comforting people and he became even more awkward when a girl is involved.

After dinner Rukia left Ichigo to his devices and went outside to think about recent events. She had to make sure that no harm would be caused to either Ichigo or Shiro.

Ichigo watched her go outside while cleaning the dishes. He finished his work quickly and sat on the sofa doing his homework. After his work he took covers and fell asleep.

x—x—x

Ichigo had been sleeping peacefully until he felt something shake and tug him. He drowsily opened his eyes and looked up to see a Rukia calling out his name and trying to wake him up. He looked towards the clock to see 3.00 AM written on it.

Ichigo growled angrily, "Do you know what time it is?"

Rukia didn't seem too concerned about his anger. "I have already wasted too much time. Anyways there are few things I want to tell you," she said.

"What's so important that it can't wait until morning?" Ichigo asked grumpily.

"Listen Ichigo Kurosaki what I am about to tell you is of at most importance," Rukia said sharply.

Ichigo rubbed his eyes and sat up straight to listen to whatever Rukia wanted to say. Seeing as she had got Ichigo's attention Rukia continued, "I am leaving Shiro in your care. He should be safe here since whatever is jamming my senses should also work on all other supernatural beings. So as long as he stays here no one should be able to track him."

"Why would he be tracked in first place?" Ichigo asked, although he had a feeling where all this was headed.

"Let's just say that Shiro is very unique individual and there are many people after him," Rukia said a bit sadly like she was remembering something awful.

Ichigo distinctly got an impression that he was getting involved in something he shouldn't be, but that was not enough reason for Ichigo to back down. He was going to protect Shiro no matter what and he also owed the guy his life.

"Also Ichigo I want you to take these few precautions, whenever you go out take a bath and use strong perfumes," Rukia said.

Ichigo gave a questioning look at that. _I mean sure I don't smell like roses but I don't smell that bad_ , he thought.

"It is to get rid of all the scent of Shiro on you," Rukia explained. "If anyone should smell Shiro's scent on you undoubtedly both of you will fall in trouble. People after Shiro won't care that you are just a kid or you don't know anything. They will harm you."

Ichigo scowled at the 'kid' comment but didn't say anything about it. The seriousness in Rukia's voice made him stop and contemplate the recent events.

"Just take care of yourself till I get back," Rukia said finally after a long pause and started walking towards the door.

"Yeah," Ichigo answered. Rukia's worry for him surprised him. _I am just some stranger to her. Why would she bother about my safety?_ He thought.

Ichigo shook his head and closed the door after Rukia. He flopped down on the sofa again sleep long forgotten and his head full of thoughts and various other anxieties.

x—x—x

 **so chap 2 over. Hoped you guys liked it, let me know through all your wonderful reviews.**

 **There was no Ichi X Shiro in this chap but it will be in next chap I promise *winks***


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys a new chapter. Finally Renji is introduced in this chapter along with the 13 captains. And Shiro finally wakes up too.**

 **I don't own Bleach :D**

 _Thoughts in Italic_ **.**

 **Alright moving on. Read, review & enjoy.**

 **Chapter 3**

Rukia stood at far end of the Karakura town. She put as much distance between herself and Ichigo's house, as she could without it being too suspicious. She had to go back and report everything to her Captain. But Rukia had a plan which would not only help Shiro's condition but also keep Ichigo's identity hidden.

It was a rule in her realm to never acknowledge humans or even try to think anything about them, helping or interfering in a human's life was unheard of. Anyone who tried to go against these rules was punished severely. These rules were especially enforced on Shiro.

 _And Shiro just protected a human, putting his own life at risk no less_ , Rukia thought sullenly. _If the Captains should ever find out about it Shiro would be executed, no doubt._

Rukia shuddered at the thought. No she wouldn't let any harm come to her longtime friend Shiro. And Rukia didn't think Shiro was so wrong to protect a human. They were living creatures too and they were unaware of this long battle between the supernatural beings. They didn't deserve to die in the crossfire. She always tried her best during her missions to keep humans safe. She wouldn't let any harm come to humans around her. It was this thinking that had brought Shiro and Rukia together in first place.

 _And now Renji sees it this way too_ , Rukia thought fondly.

Rukia made preparation to enter her realm. She flexed her wings and quickly chanted a chant to open the doorways to the Heaven. She took a step back and watched as the door slowly opened and she was granted access. Rukia started flying with determination. No she would protect both Ichigo and Shiro till her last breath.

x—x—x

Shiro opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. He had never seen this ceiling in his entire life. Was he captured by enemy somehow? But before Shiro could contemplate further he was painfully made aware of his throbbing shoulder. He couldn't recall anything that would cause such pain.

Shiro could usually handle a lot of pain, but this was entirely different. He tried to think what could have happened that he ended up in such position; foreign place and this pain. Shiro felt like his entire body was tied down to a ton of weight, all he could do was breath.

Shiro tried to move and winced at the hot burning sensation in his shoulder. It felt like someone was pouring hot lava over his shoulder. His head hurt but the pain was nothing in comparison to his shoulder. In between all this he felt burning hunger and he didn't think the thought of glass of water would be as tempting as of this moment.

Very slowly Shiro got up hissing in pain the entire time and looked to his side and saw Zangetsu on a small table besides him. He sighed in relief, at least he wasn't stripped of his favorite weapon.

Shiro inspected the room closely. There was a small bed on which he was asleep a window next to it, a small table beside his bed and few books scattered on it. A closet besides it. And a door, which Shiro could guess, led to small bathroom. The interiors of the room looked like it belonged to a boy.

Shiro looked at himself now. He was only wearing his pants and had no shirt on him. It didn't matter because most of his torso was covered with bandages and they looked fresh. His head was also wrapped in bandages and there were some sort of ointment on his wrists.

Shiro took a deep breath and tried to smell and sense everything he could. He closed his eyes and took in on his surroundings. He could smell a human around him. His smell dominated the place so Shiro figured this must be his home. Shiro could take in three other scents but they were light.

But even with all this Shiro could feel his senses were limited. Shiro tried to figure what it was that was blocking his senses but he couldn't think of any reason. He looked at his body for any seals that would do this but no seal in sight. In all his panic Shiro failed to notice approaching footsteps towards the room.

Ichigo woke up a later than usual due the events of the yesterday night. After Rukia went away Ichigo finally fell asleep at 6 in the morning. He had already decided to skip the school that day so he didn't mind getting up later than usual.

After his daily routine Ichigo walked to his room to get a book to read in his free time. Ichigo walked to his room as quietly as he could, to not disturb Shiro. As he entered the room he saw Shiro sitting on the bed looking deep in thought.

Ichigo couldn't understand the happiness he felt when he saw Shiro sitting on the bed. It was unnatural for him, he barely knew the guy yet Ichigo felt happiness and relief cross his mind when he saw Shiro awake.

"You are finally awake," Ichigo said with a small smile.

Shiro snapped out of his thoughts and saw a human boy standing in the door of the room. Shiro didn't hear the boy enter which meant he had let his guard down. Shiro got angry with himself and gave a sharp glare to the boy.

Ichigo's smile disappeared immediately and the tension in the room only grew.

"Who are you?" Shiro snarled at the boy in front of him.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki and this is MY place you're staying in," Ichigo said coolly. He figured the guy if the guy was going to be nasty then he wasn't going to be polite either.

When the guy didn't answer Ichigo continued, "Your Shiro?"

Shiro again gave a sharp glare towards Ichigo. _How does he know my name?_ He thought.

"Your friend Rukia told me," Ichigo answered the unasked question.

"Rukia was here?" Shiro asked. Heaven send Rukia here that meant Shiro hadn't reported for more than couple of days.

"Yes," Ichigo answered simply. He couldn't figure out this guy. One minute he was all prissy and angry and other minute he was all tensed and worried.

"How long was I out? And who healed my wounds?" Shiro asked.

"You were out for couple of days and as per your wounds, I bandaged those," Ichigo said.

Shiro felt irritation rise up at that, he didn't like anyone trying to heal his wounds or treat him. He usually bandaged his wounds himself.

Ichigo wanted to ask too many questions but he figured the guy would be more willing to answer his questions when was less angry. "If you want to clean up there is a shower through that door," Ichigo said pointing towards the bathroom. Shiro looked and nodded, if he was unconscious for two days shower would be good and plus it would help relieve his aching muscles.

Ichigo went to his closet and removed a fresh set of clothes for Shiro. He placed them on the bed and walked away from the room. All the while Shiro's thoughts were in circles. _Who is this human? And why did he heal my wounds? Does he want something from me?_

He decided to leave all the thinking for later on and first take a shower. On his way he noticed his sword Zangetsu was cleaned and was placed carefully on the table. _Ichigo must have cleaned it,_ he thought and somehow this thought warmed him to the center of his being.

x—x—x

Rukia stood in front of her Captain's room. She took a deep breath and knocked the door. Several moments passed and when no one answered Rukia called out, "Captain Ukitake its Rukia Kuchiki reporting sir."

 _Still no answer. Maybe he isn't here, is he sick again?_ Rukia thought worriedly.

"Rukia what are you doing here?" Kiyone asked. Kiyone was a sweet young girl with short blonde hair and aqua eyes. She was a warm person and always tried to look out for her captain.

"What do you mean? I just got here from the human realm and here to report to Captain Ukitake of course," Rukia said.

"So you are not aware of the captain's meeting?" this time it was Sentaro who asked the question. Sentaro was a tall boy with black hair and black eyes. His hair seem to be standing against gravitation. And although Kiyone and Sentaro always seemed to be fighting and competing they always stuck together no matter what.

"Wait Captains meeting? But why?" Rukia asked getting confused. She had a really bad feeling about it.

"We do not know about that," Kiyone answered simply.

"Alright so I'll come back later to give my report," Rukia said and tried to slip away and avoid a really bad situation.

"Wait Rukia. So the guards didn't tell you anything at the doors to Heaven?" Sentaro asked.

"Tell me what?" Rukia asked.

"You have been summoned by Head Captain Yamamoto to report directly to all the Captains regarding Shirosaki Zangetsu," Sentaro said.

"In between the meeting?" Rukia asked.

"Yes. Come we will escort you there," Sentaro said.

Rukia had a sinking feeling. And her chances to escape had also vanished with Sentaro and Kiyone escorting her. Lying to her captain was one thing but facing all 13 captains together was another.

As they were walking Rukia asked, "Say Sentaro, Shiro is only gone for a couple of days. So why the panic in the Heaven?"

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez and Ulquiorra Cifer were sighted in Karakura town few days ago," Sentaro answered, distaste clear in his voice.

Rukia's eyes widened and she felt anxiety swelling inside her. The situation was even worse than she imagined. She was starting to wonder if her plan would actually work. No she had to do it, Ichigo's and Shiro's life would be endangered if she didn't succeed.

x—x—x

Ichigo walked in the kitchen and decided to cook something for himself and Shiro. Ichigo was so angry on Shiro he couldn't figure out what he should do, whether he should punch the guy or yell at him.

All this time Ichigo had taken care of him and although he didn't expect a 'thank you' but he sure as hell wasn't expecting a crappy attitude. _What's his problem anyways?_

Ichigo removed vegetables from the refrigerator and started chopping them. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice his finger been cut along with the onion. He hissed and put his finger in his mouth and sucked away all the blood.

Ichigo gave a sigh. _It won't help getting all worked up about Shiro's attitude. Many people behave nasty with me, why was I expecting anything less from him,_ Ichigo thought dejectedly.

Ichigo placed his finger under the cool water of the tap and hissed yet again. _I should try to be less careless. I already have the gaping hole in my hand I don't need any more injuries,_ Ichigo thought.

Ichigo cleaned his wound when his thoughts suddenly went to the night three days before when he first saw Shiro fighting against some sort of monster. Ichigo could still see the events of that night play right before his eyes. He could see Shiro jump and front of him and received majority of damage which was meant for Ichigo.

 _He jumped right in front me even though he knew he would get hurt. He didn't hesitate even for a moment and protected me using himself as a shield. He must be in a lot more pain than I am,_ Ichigo thought.

 _And he fainted right after he killed that thing so he probably doesn't remember me or this place,_ Ichigo felt a pang in his chest at that thought.

 _He must be confused and must have thought that he is in an enemy place,_ Ichigo sighed and felt all his anger melt into a gratefulness.

Now that Ichigo thought about this he knew how Shiro must have felt. And Ichigo decided to cut him some slack only this once.

x—x—x

Rukia stood in front of the hall where the captains meeting was going on. Kiyone and Sentaro stood a couple of feet behind her. Rukia took a deep breath and straightened her robes, and knocked the door twice.

"You may come in," a loud and clear voice rang from inside. The voice held such authority and command that Rukia knew instantly that voice belonged to Head Captain Yamamoto.

In her entire life Rukia had met Head Captain Yamamoto only twice, and both the times she was with her captain. But from those two meeting she could clearly gather what type of person Head Captain was. Head Captain was a very strong man with an inexplicit love for rules and discipline. He would never take broken rules lightly, and it was because of him that Heaven was so feared.

Rukia opened the door and walked inside. Head Captain was seated on a big chair right at the top and the 12 captains were standing in two lines. Rukia walked in between the formation and bowed down to Head Captain, then to all 6 captains to her right then on left.

"Rukia Kuchiki you were send on a mission to retrieve Shirosaki Zangetsu from the human realm, yet here you are without him. You have failed to complete your mission. I want a complete explanation of your actions," Head Captain Yamamoto said.

Rukia gave a mental cringe at the harsh tone in his voice but didn't show anything on her face. She kept face blank because she knew if she wanted to save Shiro she would have to play this very carefully. She had to stay confident and calm.

"Head Captain Sir I found Shirosaki in the human realm but I could not bring him back," Rukia said.

"And why is that?" Captain Zaraki asked. Captain Zaraki was Shiro's captain. He was a big scary looking guy, with a passion for blood and battle. But he was the reason Shiro was so strong. Of all the captains only Captain Zaraki didn't seem to care about Shiro being the forbidden child. He treated Shiro like every other member from his squad.

"Captain Zaraki please let me explain. When I went to the human realm, Karakura town I couldn't locate Shirosaki at first. Something was blocking my senses, I couldn't smell or sense Shirosaki at all," Rukia said.

All captains listened closely. Rukia noticed this and continued, "After searching for a while I found him. His right shoulder is pierced and his injuries are too grave."

"I volunteer my services," Captain Unohana said. Captain Unohana was a kind women who was head of the healing squad that is Squad Four, but she could scary at times. "I will personally see to it that Shirosaki Zangetsu is fully healed."

"Captain Unohana with all due respect ma'am Shirosaki cannot come back to Heaven because his right wing is heavily damaged," Rukia said sadness in her eyes but not in her voice.

"So he got done in by some low rank demon?" Captain Kurotsuchi asked disgust clear in his voice.

"No Captain Kurotsuchi. The demon was high level demon," Rukia said.

"That's nonsense. If there was such a demon our sensors would have detected it," Captain Kurotsuchi said.

"That's the thing Sir. Whatever is blocking our senses is too strong. Maybe that's why Shirosaki couldn't sense the strength of the demon and got injured," Rukia said defending Shiro.

"So in other words his arrogance became fatal for him," Gin Ichimaru said. Gin Ichimaru was the captain of the third squad. He was a very mysterious man with cold personality.

"I was against the idea of making him a slayer in first place. He cannot be trusted," said Soi Fong. She was the captain of the second squad with no-nonsense attitude.

"So what you are saying is that the member of my squad is weak," Captain Zaraki said glaring fiercely at all the captains in front of him.

"That's exactly what I am saying. He should be removed from his title as the fourth seat of Eleventh Squad and should be given to the Twelfth Squad to conduct thorough analysis," Mayuri Kurotsuchi said leering.

That statement caused an uproar in all the captains, some against the idea of it and some with it. Rukia herself gave hateful glare towards the captain of squad twelve.

"Silence," Head Captain said his voice leaving no room for further discussion. All the commotion ceased immediately.

Head Captain looked directly at Rukia as if he was seeing her soul. Rukia felt nervous and wanted to take a step back but she didn't, she held her ground and didn't flinch at all.

"Rukia Kuchiki, member of Squad Thirteen and Renji Abarai, Lieutenant of Squad Six shall be send to Karakura town to monitor Shirosaki Zangetsu's healing progress and any demon activities," Head Captain Yamamoto said and Rukia could only feel relief rushing inside her.

"Yes Sir," Rukia answered.

"You will leave tonight along with Lieutenant of Squad Six. In the meantime you Rukia Kuchiki will report what all you saw and felt in Karakura town to Captain of squad 12," Head Captain Yamamoto said. "You are dismissed."

Rukia nodded and walked away as she was dismissed. She did a small victory dance inside her mind.

x—x—x

Shiro stood underneath the warm shower trying to relax his muscles. After a few moments he relaxed a bit and his injuries became numb. Shiro tried to think what had happened to him to be in this situation, at a mercy of some human. He tried to focus in between his pounding headache and finally remembered the events of the night when he came to Karakura town.

He had saved the human by taking the blow for meant him. But Ichigo still got injured, Shiro had noticed the bandages on his palm.

Shiro couldn't understand why he felt guilty for not protecting the human fully or why he saved the human in first place. Shiro always protected humans when he could but he couldn't understand why he put his life in danger to save this particular human.

Suddenly Shiro remember Ichigo's face when the tentacle had gotten a hold of him. Wide chocolate eyes frozen with fear, hair disheveled he was on the floor and his mouth open in silent scream. Shiro couldn't help himself, the urgency he felt to protect Ichigo was over-whelming and he jumped in front of Ichigo to save him.

Shiro sighed and looked at his wounds, they seemed much better condition and were healing faster than usual. The human had bandaged him and taken care of him. Shiro didn't like anyone taking care of him, he was used to being treated harshly. And the kindness he received felt so different that he reacted badly towards it.

 _It feels odd to be taken care of,_ thought Shiro. He was the one usually taking care of others and protecting them, not the other way round. _But the human doesn't know any of this. And judging from his curiosity I bet Rukia didn't tell him anything._

 _Well he did save my life so I can cut him some slack this time,_ Shiro thought as he got out from the bathroom and being to dress quickly.

x—x—x

 **Before you ask me why it is taboo to help humans let me tell you that I shall reveal all that in future chapters *smiles mysteriously***

 **So any who how was it guys? Review if you liked this chapter, pretty please *puppy dog looks***


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Bleach :D**

 **So this is the fourth chapter guys. I hope you like it. As always constructive criticisms is highly appreciated and forgive my grammatical mistakes.**

 **I am really enjoying this story** **I hope you guys are too**

 _Thoughts in Italic_ **.**

 **Alright moving on. Read, review & enjoy.**

 **Chapter 4**

Rukia walked out from hall and saw Renji waiting for her in front of the door. Renji was a tall tan boy with tattoos all over his body. His dark maroon hair were tied in a ponytail behind his head. She gave a quick smile and walked towards him.

"Rukia what's going on? You were summoned in between the Captains meeting. I got worried about you," Renji said. And Rukia could understand his worry. Captains meeting was big issue in Heaven and being summoned in between it was even bigger issue.

"I'll tell you everything but not here," Rukia said pulling Renji's away from the hall.

"Where are you taking me?" Renji allowed himself to be dragged. But Rukia didn't answer him and continued to pull him towards the thirteenth squad.

Finally Rukia stopped in what seemed like a training ground. But the place was too deserted to be called one. Wild grass was growing everywhere on the ground, the trees were over-grown. It seemed to be forgotten by everyone; everyone but Rukia.

"What is this place?" Renji asked looking around.

"This was originally the training ground meant for the 13th squad, but now it is abandoned due to some unknown reason," Rukia explained.

"Alright so what is going on with you? Why were you summoned in Captains meeting?" Renji asked again.

Rukia took a deep breath and expanded her senses around. When she was convinced that there was no one else except her and Renji, Rukia started telling everything that happened with Shiro and what all she said in the captains meeting, also their mission to go to Karakura town.

After her explanation was done Renji gave a low whistle and sighed. He didn't understand he should be angry or proud or relived. Try as he may, Renji could never lie to his captain or any captain at that. And here Rukia was who out-witted all 13 captains, not even individually but all at once. Renji decided he was more proud of Rukia now than ever.

"You dummy do you have any idea what sort of risk you just took!" Renji said.

"What?" Rukia gave annoyed expression.

"It was plain luck on our part that Head Captain choose us to go to human realm. If he had chosen someone else what do you think would have happened? You and Shiro would be charged as traitors and executed!" Renji said seriously a bit angrily.

Hair on Rukia's back of neck stood as she took in the worst case scenario, which could have happened if the Head Captain had chosen someone else. She took a small breath and shook her head, because that wasn't the case. Everything was alright and she was gonna make damn sure that everything stayed that way.

x—x—x

"What were those things that night?"

"Demons."

"What are you?"

"Half Angel."

"So you are half-human?"

"Yes."

"Why did those things attack me?"

"For fun."

"Why did you save me?"

"No reason."

"And you expect me to believe all this?"

"Yes," came a deadpan reply from Shiro.

Ichigo huffed at that and stood up angrily. He couldn't believe a single thing Shiro said but he did see the events of the night unfold in front of him.

When Shiro had finally come down after his bath Ichigo couldn't contain his curiosity anymore. He wanted some answers. Shiro agreed to answer all his questions but Ichigo didn't expect them to be one word. He wanted a full explanation with details but all the angel, or whatever Shiro was, offered him single word answer which was said so deadpanned that it had left Ichigo wondering what to do next.

So he angrily walked away, pouting the whole time; not that he would ever admit it. He was irritated with the angel, but he couldn't say much since the angel was giving answers. And when Shiro agreed to answer all his questions he never once said that they won't be one word.

Ichigo walked inside the kitchen to make lunch but decided against it. He was too tired to make lunch anyways. He thought it was such a tiring and monotonous work and wondered how Yuzu did it every day without fail. He decided to order pizza instead.

Shiro had been thoroughly amused by the reactions the human gave. When Shiro agreed to answer all the questions Ichigo had, he had mentally made a note to himself to answer as little as possible. The less Ichigo knew more better it would be for him and Ichigo would be much safer that way. Although he was doing this for Ichigo, Shiro couldn't deny that he had enjoyed irritating the human.

Enjoyment was such a foreign emotion for Shiro, he never thought he would feel anything like this ever in his entire life. His entire time in Heaven he was always very serious, never once did he smile. _The human must be special,_ Shiro thought. He couldn't ignore the fondness he felt at that.

Shiro saw Ichigo walk into the kitchen and he himself headed out. He needed to contact either Rukia or Renji. Shiro sat on the porch and concentrated his spirit energy at one point. He expanded his senses and searched for Rukia's energy but he couldn't find any. _She must have returned back to Heaven,_ Shiro thought.

So he focused his energy towards the Heaven and tried to contact her, but he couldn't. Something was blocking his senses. He felt this way when he woke up, like his senses were very limited, but he didn't have much thought to it then. Now that he thought about it, he wondered what was going on.

Shiro shook his head and sat in position for meditation instead. He would think about all this when his body was aching a bit less and he was a bit more relaxed. With that thought Shiro started meditating.

x—x—x

Lunch was entertaining, at least for Ichigo. Shiro didn't know what pizza was, and at first he had spent time poking it. He asked for chop sticks to eat pizza and Ichigo laughed at that. When Ichigo told Shiro that he had to use his hands Shiro made a face but reluctantly tried.

Eventually Shiro liked pizza so much that he ended up eating most of it. Ichigo didn't mind since he thought Shiro would be hungry, after all Shiro hadn't eaten anything since five days, as he was unconscious.

Which made Ichigo wonder what did angels eat, or for the matter did they need to eat. But judging from Shiro's one word answers Ichigo decided to ask all this later.

After lunch Shiro walked up to Ichigo's room without turning back and closed the door behind him. Ichigo felt his eye twitching. _This guy is starting to get too comfortable here,_ Ichigo thought. But he was too nice to kick out an injured guy. So Ichigo simply sighed and flopped down on the sofa surfing through various television channels.

x—x—x

Sometime between afternoon and evening, Ichigo heard a knock on his door. Expecting it to be Rukia, Ichigo got up and opened the door. Outside the door stood his friends Uryu, Orihime and Chad.

Ichigo suddenly felt the alarmed, he didn't know what he should be doing. Should he invite his friends in or make an excuse and send them off. He knew they would undoubtedly ask questions about Shiro, and he didn't know how to explain all this to his friends.

"Hi Kurosaki-kun. How are you feeling?" Orihime asked.

"You skipped school even today so we decided to check on you," Uryu said his glasses glinting. Chad silently agreed to it.

Still deciding what to do Ichigo was standing in the doorway not answering any of his friend's questions. They gave him a look like they were waiting for Ichigo to invite them in.

Reluctantly Ichigo moved and opened the door a bit wider and invited them in. Ichigo closed the door behind him and praying Shiro wouldn't come down. It would be very difficult for him to explain the situation.

His friends silence told Ichigo that Shiro was present there in the living room. He sighed, _to hell with it I will think of something anyway._

"Is he a friend of your Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime asked sweetly.

Ichigo turned and saw all his friends eyeing Shiro curiously. Shiro in turn was staring at Orihime intently. Ichigo noticed that Shiro had worn a shirt thankfully.

"Ya he is a very old friend of mine," Ichigo said. He sighed and introduced the group to each other.

"So we can see Ichigo, with him wearing your clothes and all," Uryu said.

Ichigo gave a mental smile, he couldn't hide anything from Uryu anyways. Uryu was too sharp and observant, and had always been that way.

"Yes well his clothes were destroyed," Ichigo said.

"How? What happened?" Orihime asked curiously looking at Shiro, who was still staring at her. He never once looked at Ichigo's other two friends.

Ichigo said, "Well he met with an accident while he was coming here to meet me."

"So why didn't you to take him to hospital instead?" Uryu asked as he pushed his glasses with his finger. He was staring at Shiro very sharply, who still wouldn't glance at anyone but Orihime.

"Shiro hates hospitals so," Ichigo said.

Everyone was silent for a while each in their own thoughts. While Chad and Uryu shared a look. Ichigo saw the look and wondered if his friends knew what was going on. But that wasn't possible Uryu and Chad couldn't know Shiro was half-angel or anything supernatural for that matter.

To break the awkward silence Orihime said, "I will make some tea for everyone."

All the boys in the room sat straight at that except for Shiro, knowing Orihime's cooking very well.

"Orihime you must tired after PE so let me make tea," Uryu said quickly.

Orihime nodded and said, "Alright but let me help you."

Ichigo and Chad gave a relived sigh. Chad shifted closer to Ichigo and asked in a very low voice, "Are you alright Ichigo?"

Ichigo gave a small nod to reassure his friend. "I am fine Chado what would ever happen to me."

But that didn't seem reassure his friend at all. Chad still seemed worried.

The rest of the evening Orihime asked various question to Shiro, and he gave one word answers to all of it. But not once did Shiro's eyes left Orihime and Ichigo couldn't help but feel disappointment all the time.

x—x—x

Ichigo woke up to the sound of window breaking. He quickly got up and threw his covers away ready to fight if he had he. He looked towards the window which was broken and saw a red headed boy standing over there.

He had tattoos over his face and was wearing traditional clothing. His red hair were tied in a ponytail and he had a bored expression on his face.

"So this is the strawberry you were talking about?" he asked.

Ichigo saw Rukia enter the room from the newly broken window and nodded her hair. _So he is Rukia's friend,_ Ichigo thought. But Ichigo couldn't forgive him for the strawberry comment. He had suffered enough in his childhood about the strawberry comment to face it even know.

"Who the hell are you?" Ichigo snarled and gave a glare to the boy.

"Not very friendly is his?" red head asked to his companion.

Rukia slapped Renji on his head and said, "Of course he would be hostile. You just broke his window and entered his house."

Ichigo heard and felt tiny bit satisfaction, at least one person knew how he felt. He didn't understand why everything happened at night when he was sleeping. Why couldn't anything happen during day time when he was freaking awake.

"Well we tried knocking the door in your way Rukia but he didn't answer so only option left was my way," Renji said.

"He didn't open the door because he was sleeping Renji. Didn't you hear his breathing?" Rukia explained.

Before Ichigo could retort to that, Shiro came downstairs. "What are you two idiots doing here?" he asked but without any bite to his words.

"Shiro you are awake," Rukia said.

"Shiro," Renji said.

Ichigo could see pure happiness on both of their faces upon seeing their friend. Rukia was smiling happily and the boy now identified as Renji had a small smile on his face too.

Ichigo tried to get up but he could feel ache in his body catch up to him. He had been sleeping on sofa for few days so his body had started aching. And all the times when he stayed awake at night and slept during day finally started effecting him. His head started pounding heavily. All Ichigo wanted now was sleep.

"Do you mind talking outside," he said irritably. "And use a freaking door while you go."

He gave Renji a sharp glare as he flopped down on the sofa again and started thinking all that happened during the day.

He was disappointed that Shiro would not even look at him properly but had stared at Orihime the entire time she was here. _Of course he would look at Orihime, she is beautiful,_ Ichigo thought. Half the male population in school had hots for Orihime. _And why did I think otherwise, I mean what made me think that he would be interested in guys,_ Ichigo thought and then gave himself a mental slap. _What are you thinking Ichigo! You aren't interested in guys either,_ he scolded himself.

But Ichigo couldn't shake off the sadness he felt. He couldn't understand any of his feelings. Up until now Ichigo had never felt attraction towards anyone. He never could understand why it was this way, all his guy friends were chasing after girls always but Ichigo didn't feel a thing.

He shook his head, he didn't want to think about all this anymore and what good it would do. It wouldn't change the fact that Shiro seemed interested in Orihime. Ichigo cleared his mind slowly and when his troubled thoughts finally subdued he drifted off to sleep.

x—x—x

Shiro led Rukia and Renji outside the house and used a door as Ichigo had said. He too gave Renji a small glare but couldn't stay angry with his energetic friend.

Rukia noticed the glare and pondered on Shiro's reaction. Shiro was protective of human it seemed and he didn't like anyone hurting him. She had noticed similar reaction from Ichigo when she first met him. _They are really protective of each other,_ Rukia thought and wondered what sort of bond was there between the two.

"You should be more discrete Renji," Rukia said trying to lighten the situation a bit.

"Does this idiot even know what discrete is?" Shiro said smirking.

Renji huffed and said, "Hey quit picking on me you two and talk about the real reason why we are here."

That sentence killed all the playful mood that was around the group and everyone became somber.

"Are you here for him?" Shiro asked and Rukia knew he meant Ichigo.

"No of course not! Will you let me explain?" Rukia said.

And then Rukia started telling everything that happened to her after she was send on the mission to retrieve Shiro.

Shiro felt immense warmth in his heart. He didn't know what he should be saying, Rukia not only saved him but also saved Ichigo. Shiro knew that very soon Heaven would send someone for Ichigo and he didn't want that to happen. He didn't want Ichigo to pay the price for things that he didn't even do, in fact if anything Ichigo had saved his life. But Shiro knew Heaven wouldn't listen to any of it.

"Hey I can at least expect a thank you," Rukia said humorously.

That snapped Shiro from his trance and he looked at Rukia gratefully, his golden eyes took a shade of warm amber as if reflecting the warmth that he felt. He knew Rukia would do anything for him but he didn't expect the dedication to run this far.

"Rukia I…" Shiro stopped because he knew any words wouldn't express how truly grateful he was.

"Hey it's alright buddy, let us protect you once," Renji said.

Shiro nodded and didn't say anything as he was too over-whelmed to say anything.

"But you know what you have to do now right?" Renji asked.

Rukia and Shiro both knew what he was implying. It was something all angels did to keep their identity a secret. To erase memories, angels were born with that gift. It made sense, or else almost every human would know existence of the angels and demons.

"Yeah I know and I will do it tomorrow," Shiro said.

Rukia gave a doubtful look towards Shiro. She knew Shiro was fond of Ichigo no matter how much he tried to hide or deny it. _Would Shiro really want Ichigo to forget all about him?_ Rukia thought.

"I know what you are thinking and don't. I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe," Shiro said to Rukia.

To protect someone was one emotion Shiro knew very well. He usually kept everyone around him safe so Rukia didn't doubt that Shiro would do same for Ichigo too. But to erase Ichigo's memory was a difficult step, Rukia doubted Shiro would take. She knew her friend very well and she also knew that Shiro wouldn't do it.

But Rukia nodded her head anyway. "Alright you do what you have to," she said. "We should be going. If anyone should know that we were here it would cause even more trouble for you guys than you already are in."

With that Rukia and Renji walked away.

Shiro walked in and looked at the form of sleeping Ichigo on the sofa. He couldn't understand why he felt so protective towards Ichigo.

He shook his head, all this wouldn't matter after tomorrow. As Rukia said he would do what he had to do.

x—x—x

 **So chap 4 over. Hoped you guys liked it, let me know through all your wonderful reviews.**

 **Now everyone knows what Shiro is the fun starts from here *winks* I mean the intro of the story is over and the main story starts now. Thank you guys for sticking with me**

 **Also the chapters would be longer, and there are other pairings too.**

 **So thank you for reading this far and stick with me after this too.**

 **I didn't thank all of you for making me favorite and following me. Thank you so much guys**


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